Larry Nemecek
Larry Wayne Nemecek is a noted Star Trek author, editor, archivist and consultant. He is married to onetime script coordinator Janet Nemecek. A native Oklahoman, Nemecek began considering news and communications as a career in high school after being inspired by a teacher in his journalism class. He majored in theater at college with a journalism minor, and began writing about Star Trek because "all the Will Rogers and Sooners football books had been written." He also cites Stephen Edward Poe's classic The Making of Star Trek and Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance as seminal influences in entertainment and genre writing. ''Star Trek'' fandom As an undergrad at East Central University, Nemecek started a science fiction fan club with his best friend Kevin Hopkins, called "Starbase ECU." His favorite TOS character was Leonard McCoy and in make-up class chose a Tellarite for his non-realistic character project. While a young newspaper reporter and editor, he chaired publicity for Oklahoma City's SoonerCons and in founded ThunderCon there as an all-media/''Star Trek'' charity convention. In , after the publication of his first professional book, Nemecek began sharing his stories and archives with humor as a guest at conventions worldwide. Nemecek had a long-distance correspondence with fellow Star Trek fan and artist/author Geoffrey Mandel growing out of points in the Starfleet Medical Reference (Ballantine). Nemecek's early drafts of Star Trek star maps led them to work together when Mandel intended to publish them in fanzine form, but when Mandel was asked to finish the incomplete Star Trek Maps for Bantam Books he managed to include Nemecek's data in the revised format scale. In , after beginning an annual episode guide and concordance fanzine for the new Star Trek: The Next Generation, Nemecek met with Gene Roddenberry in his office. He was personally thanked by Roddenberry for writing the reference works, which the staff used as an ongoing update to their writer's guide. From until , Nemecek served as managing editor of Star Trek: Communicator, overseeing the planning, writers, content and look of the licensed magazine of the Official Star Trek Fan Club. He has been a regular columnist for Star Trek Magazine since 1997, and contributed dozens of articles to Star Trek Fact Files, for which he worked all six years as Los Angeles photo editor and consultant. The topics researched and obscure references and sources tracked fueled the work of the UK-based Fact Files, later seen in the US in Star Trek: The Magazine. Since 1986, Nemecek has conducted over 500 archival interviews of Star Trek writers, designers, crew and actors, most of them multiple or annual updates over the years and unpublished. He also appeared in two episodes of the fan film Star Trek: New Voyages, in and , and in a still-unreleased vignette as a Tellarite. Contributions to Star Trek ]] In , the shuttle Nenebek, featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode , was named in his honor by Jeri Taylor. She had not yet met him but, like other writing staffers, had his fanzine concordances on her desk. She did not think to tell him the story until . In , Nemecek was the author of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. He would later update this in and in . His text commentary also appeared in the CD version. In , Nemecek and his wife Janet pitched and sold a story, "Reflections," for the yet-to-air series Star Trek: Voyager. It was shelved for six years before being updated and written as , an episode for Voyager's last season in . Nemecek co-wrote The Making of Star Trek: First Contact, published by Titan Books in the UK from material he, Ian Spelling and Lou Anders wrote for Titan's magazine specials on the film. He also wrote the chapter openers and other research for Star Trek Star Charts – a reunion of sorts with onetime Star Trek Maps colleague Mandel. He authored the original museum artifact placards and recent timeline update in the museum area of Star Trek: The Experience, and was a consultant there as well as on such projects as the Star Trek: Federation Science European tour and the Star Trek World Tour guidebooks and image references. In , Nemecek was interviewed for the bonus features (Star Trek Moments and Memories) on the seventh season DVD for Star Trek: The Next Generation. He spoke again in interviews for the new 20th anniversary DVD set for TNG in 2007, and served as Special Consultant on the overall project. In , Nemecek appeared with other cameo guests and crew in , the last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. For many years, Nemecek was a contributor and producer on [[StarTrek.com|the official Star Trek website]]. In , he was its first-ever chat guest. In December 2007, however, he and the rest of the StarTrek.com production team were laid off by CBS Interactive, the result of restructuring at the company. http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/2316633.html He is also the sole contributor to a new Fact Files DVD project for Japan, and continues his two columns for Star Trek Magazine. He hopes to work again soon with Communicator publisher Dan Madsen as well. ''Star Trek'' Bibliography * : TNG-1: A Concordance and Episode Guide * : ** TNG-1: A Concordance and Episode Guide (updated) ** TNG-2: A Concordance and Episode Guide * : TNG-3: A Concordance and Episode Guide * : ** TNG-4: A Concordance and Episode Guide * : ** TNG-5: A Concordance ** Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion * : ** DS9-1: A Concordance and Episode Guide ** (story; with J. Kelley Burke) * : Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (updated) * : ** DS9-2: A Concordance and Episode Guide ** The Making of Star Trek: First Contact (with Lou Anders and Ian Spelling) * : Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (CD version) * : Star Trek Star Charts - Contributor (Chapter introductions, research) * : ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (updated) ''Star Trek'' Filmography * : Star Trek Moments and Memories (TNG Season 7 DVD bonus feature) - Interviewed * : Star Trek: New Voyages: Come What May - portrayed Cal Strickland * : - cameoed as a ceremony attendee * : Star Trek: New Voyages: To Serve All My Days - portrayed Esterion Captain External links * * 1996 Interview at StarTrek.com * 2003 Interview at StarTrek.com (with Geoffrey Mandel) * Sci Fi Studios magazine Nemecek, Larry Nemecek, Larry Nemecek, Larry Nemecek, Larry Nemecek, Larry es:Larry Nemecek